Hi Sweet Baby,
Yeah, I know : it's all way too weird. I am very aware of that, believe me. :) Anyhow, I am at Pearl's (of course). Tonight is movie night, and they are gonna show another double feature of Ozu, except this time it's gonna be two full-length movies, "Dragnet Girl" and the famous "A Story Of Floating Weeds". One is two hours and the other is an hour and forty minutes. It will be a bit of a challenge for me to sit that long, but I will give it a try. I have no doubt the movies will be great, and I've seen "Floating Weeds", but that's a very long double feature, lol.
If I do make it through both films, I will probably be out of the theater at 11pm and back at Pearl's by 11:30. So, I will see you at the regular late night time, but I won't be around in the early evening. I hope you are having a nice day. I will now feed critters, and then I will see you in a little while.
I Love You! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
11:50pm : Happy Late Night, my Darling. Boy, those were really a couple of excellent films. Ozu seems to be a master of the silent movie, and unlike some other silents, you never have to wonder what's going on. The stories are clear, with just the right amount of dialogue frames to fill you in on what's being said. Also, Criterion has added some really great modern scores to the soundtrack, music that Ozu himself would probably have approved. So far, we have seen five silent films by him, all excellent, and I will say it again (cause I like to harp on it, haha) : there is so much to be said in favor of this type of naturalistic filmaking. Oh my gosh, because you are aware that it is coming from the past (81 years ago in this case) it's like you are watching a dream of real life. The camera is stationary most of the time; movement is demonstrated by editing or by the motion of the actors, but because this was the early years of filmmaking, there are no camera pyrotechnics. Lighting is simple and natural looking.
What really strikes me is the acting. It's obviously a product of craft, because otherwise they couldn't pull it off, but in the movies we've seen, it's as if the actors have just enough ability to be professional while still seeming 100% like real people you are sitting in a room with. They are also very modern-seeming, and that is interesting when we talk about time so much. As these films are closing in on being 100 years old, it is interesting to note that the expressions, body language, self awareness and just the same general qualities we ascribe to the modern ego are present in these actors. I mention this because, when we think of a year like 1934, we think of an era as represented by history, and the media (books, pictures, films, stories) that describe that history to us. 1934 is Depression-era, and between World Wars. And there is certainly a difference in the look of that era, and in the circumstances.
But the people themselves, and they seem like people in these films, rather than actors playing people, could have stepped out of a film set today. It's really something fascinating to behold. I think a film fan may have to develop a taste for silent films - but once you start to watch films from different cinematic periods, you get both a broader (filmmaking as a whole, it's history) and more specific (genres and eras) idea of all the styles and techniques that have evolved over the years.
The greatest directors have always been storytellers, and I think that in the early days, before there was a lot of specialised techniques (second unit directors & cameramen, special effects, multiple camera angles and aerial shots, etc), a director like Ozu just said, "okay, put the camera at waist-level and leave it there". He figured that that's where a person's viewpoint would be, if they were sitting in a Japanese room on a mat. And, he kept it a motion picture (because you can't have nothing but static shots) by editing in different angles from which to view the actors, as if several people were all in the room, viewing the action while seated cross-legged on mats.
It is filmmaking from the early days, but from a Master Director. While some early filmmakers might have been floundering for technique, a guy like Ozu found what worked for him, and utilized those things to their fullest potential. Which is why you can watch an 81 year old movie by him and be left with magic.....
I hope you had a nice evening. I see the text in your post, the part about being "happy to be back home after too much time away", and if that applies to you too, my Baby, then I am happy. I know you loved your time in Italy, and it is an experience that will always be with you, every day in fact. But I also hope you are glad to be back, even though it has probably taken a little while to adjust.
And I love the tulips, too!
And I Love You, Elizabeth. Sweet Dreams and I will see you in the morning.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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